Air Canada gets US$4.7bil as government takes equity stake

Full refund: Air Canada airplanes are pictured at Vancouver’s international airport. The airline has committed to paying back customers who didn’t take flights they had booked because of Covid-19. ─ Reuters

MONTREAL: Air Canada reached a deal with the Canadian government for loans and equity worth nearly C$5.9bil (US$4.7bil or RM19.44bil), a package to help the airline get through the pandemic and restore flights to remote parts of the country.

The state, which sold off its ownership interest in the 1980s, will once again own a piece of Canada’s largest airline, buying C$500mil of shares at a discount.